Thank you Thank you Thank you…

On behalf of the entire school community, I extend my sincere thanks to Juliet, Lauren and their band of amazing parent helpers, for pulling together the extraordinary 2019 Yeronga State School Fete. It was such a sensory experience, filled with sights, sounds, tastes and so many delights. We are indebted to you all and so thankful for the countless hours that were put in by so many across our community. The event was most certainly a resounding success!

In addition to the efforts of so many at the Fete, we extend our thanks to the many volunteers who have been called upon in recent times to lend a hand with a range of initiatives, including the Nature’s Play Working Bee, Snow Cones at the Cross Country and the Democracy Sausage Sizzle. It has been such an impressive collective effort and really is at the heart of what makes our school community so great. It is inspiring to see our school motto of “Service before Self” being lived up to by so many across our school.

Below are some articles that students in 2H completed to show there appreciation for the Fete.

New Nature’s Play Area

The Yeronga State School P&C have been extremely active in ensuring that our children are provided with high quality natural outdoor experiences. It is with much excitement and anticipation that our Prep and Year One students have been able to experience the new Nature’s Play area in the Junior School, for the first time over the previous week. This attractive and shaded space will allow for so many open- ended play experiences for our children.

At Yeronga State School we believe that children can derive tremendous benefit from taking part in regular nature play and learning outside of the classroom. This can help to bring many school subjects/areas of development alive, as they focus on real results and consequences. Nature play also provides experiential opportunities allowing children to respond positively to challenges and responsibilities, to manage risk and to cope with change.

Yeronga State High School Open Day and Exceptional Learners’ Program

Our Year Five and Six students recently enjoyed a fabulous day at Yeronga State High School, where they were able to experience a ‘day in the life’ of a high schooler. The students gave extremely positive feedback about the array of different learning experiences on offer throughout the day. We thank the staff at Yeronga State High School for affording our students this exciting opportunity.

This week a group of students in Year Five and Six are privileged to have been selected to be involved in a two day ‘Exceptional Learners’ Program at Yeronga State High School. We look forward to hearing the student’s reflections about their new learnings experienced through the subject areas of Mathematics, Science, Performing Arts, Health and Physical Education, English/ Humanities and Media ICT.

Term Two Leadership

I look forward to crossing paths and interacting closely with a range of members of our school community during the next four weeks, whilst I am in the Acting Principal role. My personal thanks go to Tracy Freeman (Deputy Principal Prep- Year 2) and Kalomira Masselos (Acting Deputy Principal Year 3-6) for supporting me during this time. I feel fortunate to be a part of such an enthusiastic and collaborative learning community, where we continue to strive to create Connected Individuals, Curious Learners and Community-Minded Citizens.

At this point of the term, I would like to acknowledge the unwavering commitment and hard work of the Strategic Team at our school- Tracy Freeman, Liz Kemp and Clare Triggell.  This group hold a vast amount of collective expertise and experience. They carry out much of the ‘hidden’ and unseen work that happens behind the scenes, in both the strategic and operational aspects of running this busy school! It is my pleasure to work alongside and learn from this group every day.

Kate Paynter
Acting Principal

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Kalomira Masselos who will be taking some time out of her classroom to join us in the administration team.  Kalomira will be Acting Deputy Principal Years 3 – 6, for the next four weeks.  We look forward to working will Kal for the remainder of the term.

Active School Travel

There have been many exciting events happening this term with Active School Travel.  We still have the walking and riding trains happening every week – please look back on previous newsletters to find the travel routes.  The children who have been travelling to school with the walking and riding trains have been receiving Smiggle lucky dip prizes.  This week, we had the wear your ‘Origin’ colours – it was lovely to see some students representing Queensland.

We also had Mike and Mark the Useful Bike People come out from BCC to check the air in tyres, oil the chains of our student’s bikes. The children enjoyed the time spent to look at their bikes and were deep in concentration when doing this.

Next week, we have the walking train with Brittany Richters and Debbie Quinn and the riding train will be lead by Stu the Bikeman.

Natures Play

The school community would like to extend a huge thank you to the P&C for all the hard work that has gone into creating the new Natures Play area in the lower school.  This area is dedicated to the Prep and Year 1 students.  The Prep students utilise this area during class time and the Year 1 students utilise it during break times and class time when required to compliment their learning.  This week I have walked past and heard the children telling me how they are being ‘Collaborators’ when they got the water to go right down to the end, seen the students participating in paired reading and also have seen the Year 1 students completing their Science learning in this area.  The conversations that have arisen from this new area are full of rich and deep vocabulary.  The Year 1 teaching team have taken students on a tour of this area and had lessons on how they will use this area, with a particular focus on ways to interact within the ‘Yarning Circle’.  The Year 1O students were so inspired by this they created a sign for the Yarning Circle.

Currently, this space is not to be used before or after school by students.

Attendance

As we move into the cooler months we thought it might be timely to restate the Every Day Counts initiative. Every day counts is a state wide initiative that aims to assist in improving student attendance at school through a shared commitment by students, parents, caregivers, schools and the community.

To do this, Every day counts promotes these key messages:

• all children should be enrolled at school and attend on every school day
• attendance at school is the responsibility of everyone in the community.

As a school we understand that our children may fall sick within the winter season, if your children are away sick, please ring the school to let them know the reason.

Tracy Freeman and Kalomira Masselos 

Deputy Principals

FETE THANK YOU

Congratulations and THANK YOU to our entire school community for a fantastic Fete on Saturday, 25 May. Every two years this amazing event brings together families, parents, kids, teachers, and our local community for loads of fun and to celebrate everything that is great about our school.

Thank you to:

• the 2019 Fete Committee and our Fete Convenors, Juliet Brooks and Lauren McHutchison, Faith Hage, Nev Leggo, Jackie Patterson, Kate Regnault, Tracy Bloomfield, Ann Leggo, Helen McKee, Amy Bewley, Megan Clarke, Anna Rimpau, Brad Stokes, Melanie Bristow, Penny Spiers, Wendy Ahern, David Hodge, Tina Lisette
• generous sponsors
• all the parents, family members and friends who volunteered as stall convenors and on stalls on the day
• our amazing YOSHC staff who volunteered in the Kids Fun Zone and did such a great job that the kids didn't want to leave
• teachers who prepared our kids for their performances and helped in many ways on the day
• our kids for their great performances, and
• our school and community for buying raffle tickets, ride passes, kids' artwork, donating money, second hand items and delicious baked goods, and supporting the terrific stalls.
  
  

A message from our Fete Convnenors:

The Fete was an amazing day and could never have been done without so much support from our school and the broader community. We are so grateful for everyone’s support, thank you all.

• 12 months of planning with monthly meetings and countless hours in between with 15 parents taking on a little more than they realised.
• 28 stalls run by the school community
• The week of fete parents baking, cooking, prepping and arranging equipment, stock and individual team meetings.
• 660 hours donated collectively on fete day alone
• Businesses and schools from all around donating equipment, stock and their time to help.
  
  

Fete Wrap-Up

The Fete Committee are currently finalising the last expenses so that they can share with you our final results of funds raised for the school. Watch out in your inbox over the coming weeks for your final 2019 Fete Newsletter which will include photos and results. If you have any great pictures or videos of the day, the Fete Committee would love to receive them for the schools documentation. Please send them to yssfete@gmail.com.

Prep – Gr 2 Fete Art Canvas

In response to requests from parents, the Fete team has extended the deadline to purchase kids' Prep – Grade 2 Art Canvasses created for the Fete to THIS Friday 7 June. If you haven't yet ordered your child's canvas but would like to, please pop $10 in an envelope with your child's full name & class (e.g. John Smith 1P) into one of the P&C Payment Boxes (Admin and Grade 1 buildings) by THIS Friday. The canvas will be delivered to your child's classroom to bring home by the following Friday 14 June. For any questions please email yerongasspandc@gmail.com.

Fete Cake Stall thank you

Bakers Gonna Bake!  Thank you everyone who contributed to the Cake Stall.  We were so happy to receive such a wide variety of lovely goodies to sell on Fete day.  Our customers were very happy to buy them too!  This stall relies on the school community to donate and you have stepped up again.  Thank you again to Andrea Sotiriou for creating and donating those two exquisite cakes for us to raffle.  We had two very happy winners.  Thanks again everyone from the Cake Stall team - Lorien, Ann and Sunny. 

Lost Property

With only 3 weeks to go for Term 2, and an extra influx of lost items from the Fete, now is the time to search for your child’s missing items in Lost Property. The main areas are located under the stairs in the Admin Building and in the lower level of the Gr 1 Building, with smaller Lost Property areas also located within the Resource Centre (Library) and YOSHC.

EXTRACURRICULAR CLASSES ACCEPTING ENROLMENTS - Chess, Guitar, Art and Craft

Several YSS extracurricular class providers are currently taking enrolments. Please contact the providers directly to make a booking into one of these fun activities for your child/ren. For more information about the full suite of extracurricular activities offered by the P&C please see the attached flyer.

CHESS

Looking for an inexpensive and fun activity for your kids on Tuesday afternoon or Thursday morning? At just $8 each and suitable for all ages and abilities, Chess Mates chess classes could fit the bill. Chess helps children improve their attention span, develop emotional intelligence, make friends, and have fun… all at the same time.

• Provider:  Chess Mates,  https://chessmates.com.au/
• Contact:  Ash, info@chessmates.com.au, Ash 0415 256 452
• Classes:  Tuesday after school, 3.15-4:00pm; and Thursday before school, 7.50-8.30am
• Venue:  Library.
  
  

GUITAR

Our extracurricular guitar lesson provider is now offering classes at our school on Monday afternoons, in addition to Wednesday afternoons. To find out more or to enrol your child please contact Blaise Asnicar, Virtuoso Guitar School, on 0448 620 396.

ART and CRAFT CLASSES - TERM 3, 2019 (16 July to 17 September)

• Provider: Sophia Dias, Kids Art Fun (phone  0422 539 568, kidsartfun@gmail.com, http://www.kidsart.fun)
• Venue:  Art Studio D04 - Under D Block
• Days:  Monday and Wednesday afternoon
• Time:  3:15-4:15pm - Sophia is happy to wait with children until 5:00pm
• A light afternoon tea is provided - please advise Sophia of any allergies when booking.  

All art supplies and materials are included in the Term Fee. For new bookings please enrol online at www.kidsart.fun/book-online. Existing families have been emailed by Sophia to re-enrol. Please see attached flyer for more information about the classes.

WOOLWORTHS EARN AND LEARN

Please keep collecting the Woolworth’s Earn & Learn stickers for Yeronga State School so we can earn some awesome resources for our kids. Simply collect the stickers each time you shop at Woolworths and don’t forget to ask neighbours and family to collect on our behalf too. Please drop the stickers into the special Earn and Learn box on the ground level of the Grade 1 building, or in the P&C payments boxes, or to YOSHC. Let's collect as many as we can until the promotion finishes on 25 June!!!

NEXT P&C MEETING: Tuesday, 18 June

Everyone is welcome to our next P&C meeting in the Resource Centre on Tuesday, 18 June, at 7:00pm. Please come and join us to find out all the news and help to make plans for the rest of the year. You may also be among the first to hear the financial result of our awesome Fete! :-)

Hamish Townsend and Kym Mansfield

Yeronga State School P&C Co-Presidents
ysspandcpresident@gmail.com  

It was wonderful to see Nunukal Yuggera open the Yeronga School fete with welcome dances, songs and didgeridoo playing. Kalari would like to thank Debbie Spanner, the P&C and the fete committee for their enthusiastic support of this special acknowledgement. We loved having a Kalari stall and yarning circle at the fete – thanks to everyone that dropped by to say hello.

For more information about Nunukal Yuggera, see:

http://www.nunukul-yuggera.com/

National Reconciliation Week

Last week May 27 to June 3 was National Reconciliation Week. These dates commemorate two of the most significant milestones in Australia’s reconciliation journey— the1967 referendum that opened the door to allow the Australian Government to change the Constitution so they could become involved in Aboriginal affairs and begin to address inequality and the Mabo decision in 1992, when the High Court recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have rights to the land – rights that existed before the British arrived and can still exist today. This year’s theme “Grounded in Truth, Walk Together in Courage” reminds us reconciliation cannot happen without the courage to tell the truth. You might be interested in this article by Chelsea Bond – an Aboriginal academic and writer.

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/05/30/uncomfortable-truth-about-reconciliation

Yuggera/Yugara word of the week.

Molum means child

Kalari Team

Junior Athletics Day: 25 June ( 9- 11 )

Parents are very welcome to watch the sessions. Bring along your picnic rug or folding chair. Please be aware that all students need to be with their class teachers during the activities. They will need to bring along their snack, drink bottle and hat to the activities. Sunscreen should be applied before coming to school.

After roll call all classes are to assemble under the shelters next to the top oval (at the “Big School”) at 9:00am. We will complete activities at approximately 11am so the lunchbreak should run as usual. Tuckshop may be ordered using the normal system and it will not be open to sell food during the sports activity sessions. Each rotation (2 activities of 15mins) will run for approximately 30 minutes with a 5 minute change over.

Please note students will participate in their classes not age group.  The day is one of participation in, and enjoyment of physical activity and our endeavour is to ensure all children achieve this.  Many of the activities will provide the students with an insight to what skills they will need when they enter the Senior Sports Day in years to come. We hope you can join the children on the day.

Junior Athletics Day - Tuesday 25 June 2019

*This program is a guide and times may alter slightly on the day.              

*Children will participate in their grade level.

Gala Days

The remaining date for these very important days is, weather permitting, 14 June. Children need to commit to training from this point as they will be required to attend all remaining Gala Days.

New District and Regional Representatives

Congratulations also to Archie S who was selected in the Met West Regional Boys Football Team. Best of luck to you!

Congratulations also to Harry A, Edward B, Milly B, Andrew C, Jasper G, Willow H, Callum H, Lizzie H, Adam Q, Joshua S, Maggie S and Juliet W who were selected in the Eastern District Athletics Team. Congratulations and commiserations to Hayley R, Jayden R, Henry M and Georgia M who were selected, but were unable to attend the regional trial due to other commitments.

Congratulations to Connor M who has been selected in the Eastern District Rugby Union team. This is Connor’s second district team. It’s a great effort for a 10 year old.

Yeronga State School (YSS) District Trial Selection Policy Special Consideration

(Years 3 to 6)

The representative pathway for school sport is for children from 10 to 12 years of age. Yeronga is part of a very strong district which consists of 28 schools from Yeronga State School to the Calamvale area. In contact and skill team sports those aged 11 and 12 need to possess the advantages of size and speed, as well as skill on most occasions.  Selectors  will choose those with the skill and the resilience to compete at a higher level. Remember that selectors give up their time for these trials meaning that it is important for us to send only those ready to compete at a higher level. Very seldom is it appropriate to send students for experience. An indicator of readiness for participation at a higher level would be being among the best 3 or 4 players in most games for your club under 12 teams.

In order to be selected to attend a District Trial children should make themselves known to me (Mr Bateman) for either a selection trial with the appropriate teacher or so that they may be given the appropriate forms. Remember that children must give at least two weeks notice that they wish to attend a district trial to allow for a school selection trial to be held in the event of a great deal of interest being shown in a particular sport.

Running Club

Mr Bateman is offering another running club on Tuesdays from 3:15 to 3:45. This running club will be focused on technique mainly with some conditioning work for the different distances run in the School Athletics and Cross Country Programs.

Regional Football (Soccer) Trials

Last week Yeronga State School was very well represented at the Met West Football trials. Archie S, Daniel B, Aiden S, Kate M and Milly B were all members of the Eastern Taipans football teams. Mr Curness was also the coach of the Eastern Taipans girls’ team. All 5 Yeronga students played extremely well and should be congratulated on their efforts and achievements. After playing four games against quality opposition Archie and Kate were invited to participate in the possibles verse probables match. Archie was selected in the Met West team and will attend the State Championships later this year. We wish him all the best in his quest for a Queensland position.

Gala Day 2 ( A Division Football/Soccer)

Last Friday the Yeronga A division teams had a great day out at Runcorn High School. Both teams had 3 convincing wins each. They played against Runcorn Heights, Warrigal Rd and Brisbane Christian College. All the players demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and teamwork.  

Australian Champion for Trampoline

Recently Willow H achieved some amazing results at the Australian Championships for Trampoline. She received 2 Gold medals and is now the Under 13 Australian Champion for Trampoline and double mini Trampoline. Well done Willow. 

Important Sporting Dates

Regional Tennis: 11 June

Regional Rugby Union: 11 & 12 June

District Boys and Girls Softball: 13 June

Gala Day 3: 14 June

Regional Athletics: 17 & 18 June

11-12 years Girls Rugby League: 21 June

Boys and Girls Regional Softball: 27 June

Cameron Bateman
Sports Teacher

Well done to the Senior and Junior String ensembles, the Senior Band and to Stella Voce and the Cosmio Singers for your wonderful performances at the school fete last month. Your ensemble conductors would like to thank all students and parents who helped these performances to be a success.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

The Combined Winter Showcase

The Combined Winter Showcase will occur on Friday, June 21 at the Yeronga State High School Hall. The Showcase will commence at 6pm and all of our ensembles (except the P-1 Piccolo Choir) will be performing. Therefore, if your child is a member of Stella Voce, the Cosmio Singers, Senior Band, Junior Band, Brandenburg Strings or Stradivari Strings, please save this date in your calendars.

P-1 Piccolo Choir Assembly Performance

Regular attendees to Piccolo Choir rehearsals will be singing ‘Down by the Bay’ at the Junior Assembly on Thursday, June 27. Parents/Guardians of performers are invited to watch this performance at 1:45pm in the hall. Students will also be coming home with a reminder note about this performance on Friday.

SINGFEST 2019

All Stella Voce students who verified their attendance at Singfest earlier this year should now have received a permission form for this event. If your child has not yet received their note and you believe that they should have, please email me at leeas0@eq.edu.au. Please note that these forms are due back by Thursday, June 13. Late entries will not be accepted and unfilled places will be offered to students who are currently on a waiting list.

CLASSROOM MUSIC

Year 1

Lately, the Year 1 students have been working on learning a new rhythm ‘za’ (or, a crotchet rest which is one beat of silence in music). Students have been busy learning how to read and play this new rhythm whilst also improving their abilities to read and perform already established rhythms, ‘ta’ and ‘ti-ti’. Over the last week, students in Year 1 practised playing these rhythms, whilst also experimenting with pitch (using two notes called ‘so’ and ‘me’ or, on an instrument, G and E). Here are photos of one of our hard-working year 1 students improvising melodies to match the ‘ta’, ‘ti-ti’ and ‘za’ food rhythms on his card to make a food song (we were all very hungry after this lesson!)

Yours in Music,
Lauren Easey